Subject: Teacher, when were the 11 rebaptized? |
Bible Note: If I may say a few things, if we really want good translations of the Greek lets look at the Greek culture its self. If we look at Greece to thins are not an issue in the Greek Church: 1. Baptism for the remission of sins. 2. Total immersion. As to Cornelius conversion this was a special event. How do I know this? Look at this passage Acts 11:15 "And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. Peter here is defending him preaching to the gentiles. Note what he says the spirit fell on them just as he did on them in the beginning. He did say just as he does when someone believes. Peter here has to go all the way back to Pentecost to show a like experience. We should also understand that there are different levels of receiving the spirit. Balam’s donkey had the spirit come on it to speak but to date no one have ever tried to tell me this donkey was saved. Remember to Jesus said the Spirit would come into the world to convict men of sin. What happened at Pentecost scripture says “And they were cut to the heart.” Here we have the Sprit working in men’s heart and they are not saved. In fact it is the Spirit working in the heart of man to change them. Some people accept the spirits work some reject it. As to the whole “baptism” issue I think when we try to say here is the moment someone is saved they can stop and so can we Is a totally foreign idea to the New Testament church. To me some passage speak of confessing, with out a word of repentance or baptism because they viewed the whole thing as the same event. We can twist Act 2:38 around and we are still left with 1 Peter 3:21. Also look to at the stories of the Bible. The Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:27 and ask yourself a question when did he go away happy and when was Philip taken away, after baptism. When did the Jailer rejoice after baptism. Therefore baptism was apart of the whole flow of the process and to exclude it is the result of theologians thinking too much. Now you might say baptism is a work and works does not save us. At this point people try a pit Paul and James against one another and this would be a contradiction if they were speaking of the same type of works. If we look at Romans Paul is speaking of works of “the Law”, while James speaks of works of faith. I might also there is one work none of us cannot be saved with out and that’s God’s work and that’s what baptism is. Col 2:12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. |